Rhea in flight
by silverbluebaka
Summary: Prompt fill for Tumblr Aruani week: day 1: Mystery Bert and Reiner have rescued Annie, but she's not recovering, and she can't explain why. *Mentions of major character death


**Author's note: **prompt fill for Aruani week on tumblr: day 1: mystery

story image is from gallery/?catpath=/

* * *

Grabbing Annie, Bert fired the stolen 3D gear at Reiner, flying upwards to his friend's armoured shoulder. Slapping Reiner on the ear to let him know they were on board, he held tight as they began to run.

Bert looked back over his shoulder. The farm lay in ruins behind them. The barn had been brought down and the ground torn open in order to free Annie from where she had been held. The guards lay dead almost to a man.

Bert looked down to where Annie was still cradled in the arm that wasn't holding on to Reiner. They had been looking for her for months when they had suddenly heard rumours of a hidden Survey Corps research facility. They had followed the whispers, and finally found the farm where Annie was being kept; underground and under Hanji Zoe's control.

He held her close. She looked paler than usual, and had passed out during the escape, but having got her back after so many months, Bert felt more optimistic than he had in years. They had Annie back, there was no sign of pursuit, and both Erwin Smith and Eren Jeager were on the far side of the country. They were going to escape clean this time. Reiner would keep running until they reached the walls, then they would escape to their home region. They would be free in no time.

* * *

A week later and they were still within the walls.

After Annie had come to, they had discovered she was too weak to travel quickly. They had stolen three horses from a farm they passed, and were slowly riding north towards Wall Rose. Reiner had estimated that it was another two days ride at their current pace, but they couldn't be certain, as Annie had insisted on stopping at every village they passed. Twice she had detoured for hours to reach a hamlet spotted in the distance.

The first time they had spotted a village Reiner and Bert had begun turning to give it a wide berth, when Annie suddenly began riding directly towards it.

"I need to find a doctor," she had insisted when they tried to stop her.

The two boys had flinched looking at her drawn face. After three days of freedom, she still looked at pale as when they had first found her. Worse, she was often dizzy, and could barely keep down what little food she could force herself to eat, so they were forced to risk the village in search of a doctor.

They hadn't found one at the first village, but Annie had disappeared with an old woman for a while. When she returned she tucked a small parcel into her saddle bag, and ignoring the boys' questions, mounted up and rode out of the town.

That night when they made camp within a forest, Annie produced the parcel. It contained a mixture of herbs, which when added to hot water made an awful smelling tea, and from the faces Annie pulled when drinking, it didn't taste any better. Reiner joked that a terrible taste was always a sign of strong medicine.

And it seemed to be working. For the next three days, Annie drank the tea morning and night, and to Bert's relief she seemed to be looking better. He and Reiner had considered whether it might be worth transforming and running the rest of the way to the wall, but Annie had insisted on continuing on horseback. To the boys' horror, she started crying when Reiner suggested that she wait to see the healers back in their home.

Annie had cried nearly every night since they fled the farm. The first night Bert had heard her sobbing quietly in her blankets and had tried to comfort her, convinced she was suffering from the memories of that place.

She had punched him in the jaw, and yelled that she was fine. Every night since, the boys had listened to her cry herself to sleep.

But to see her cry in front of them in the middle of the day was something terrible and new, and the boys instantly promised to search every village they could find for a doctor.

On the seventh day after the rescue, they were within sight of the wall when they finally found one.

Annie rushed into the doctor's home clinic, slamming the door in Bert and Reiner's faces when they had tried to follow.

Reiner had shrugged and began wandering down to the market at the end of the street to replenish their meagre bread supplies. Bert remained by the doctor's door, prepared to wait as long as was necessary, when he heard a loud mournful scream coming from within.

He leapt up the steps and burst through the doctor's door, and froze in horror as he tried to take in the scene before him.

Annie was partially collapsed by a chair in the doctor's small parlour, held up by the doctor as his assistant ran out calling for sedatives. Annie was clutching a newspaper close to her chest, and even though she was bent over, Bert could still see her face, practically contorted with pain. Her eyes were screwed up tightly and her mouth was hanging open as she sobbed and moaned.

The doctor was slowly lowering her to the ground when Reiner burst in from the doorway behind Bert.

"You won't believe what I've just read in – what happened?!" Reiner demanded of the doctor, cutting himself off as he rushed to Annie's side.

"I – I don't know," Bert murmured, too in shock to move. The doctor and Reiner had managed to get Annie to kneel, but she began fighting them when they tried to take the newspaper from her.

Luckily the doctor's assistant returned bringing a small syringe. While Reiner and the doctor tried to stop Annie from thrashing, the young man injected a clear liquid into her arm.

After a few moments, Annie's movements began to still, and the muscles of her face relaxed, though she still held the newspaper tightly.

Reiner scooped her up at the doctor's direction and placed her on the small couch behind them. Bert picked up the paper that Reiner had dropped, and nearly dropped it himself in shock.

On the front page was an image of their former classmate, Armin Arlert, beneath a large headline reading Convicted strategist executed for role in attack on military base. Bert read on in disbelief. According to the paper, Armin had confessed to leading Reiner and Bert to the farm, as well as arranging for the majority of the facility's personal to be absent during the attack. Apparently he had even given Annie a key to her cell. Eren, Mikasa and the rest of the 104th had been investigated but no evidence connected them to the escape.

Bert nearly laughed. The humans had executed one of their most valuable weapons for treason, when they hadn't so much as seen Armin in months. He didn't even have any possible motive for helping them.

Shaking his head, he handed the paper to Reiner, who was stroking Annie's forehead as she lay on the couch. The doctor had stepped out to have a bed prepared for her, but they spoke in low voices anyway.

"You read it, right?" Reiner asked, holding up the paper.

"Yeah, it's crazy. Why would Armin help us find the farm?" Bert scoffed. Reiner chuckled, but the sound died in his throat when Annie spoke.

"How else were you two idiots going to find the place?" she mumbled from behind the scrunched paper.

Bert exchanged a puzzled look with Reiner before speaking.

"Armin didn't help us, we found you on our own."

"Suuuuuure you did – because top secret underground research facilities are so easy to find. Who do you think was spreading the rumours you heard?" Annie countered groggily.

Reiner glanced over his shoulder before leaning in. "Why would he help you? Or any of us?" he demanded tersely.

"Becaaaaaausssssse..." Annie drawled, nuzzling the paper, "he knew what Hanji would do once she found out..."

Bert leaned in, "found out what? What happened, Annie?"

Looking at the crumpled picture on the front page, Annie seemed to have forgotten they were there, speaking to it rather than them, "you're such a liar Armin... you promised me you wouldn't get caught..."

Tears began slipping down her cheeks again, and Reiner shook her arm to regain her attention.

"Annie – Annie! What was Hanji going to find out?"

Annie looked at where one of her hands was resting on her stomach before rolling her head back up to look at Reiner.

"About the baby, obviously."

Bert fell over in shock. His brain kept circling around that word, "baby", as if it were a radical new concept. He looked over at Reiner, who didn't seem to understand the word either.

Annie was apparently unaffected by their struggle with the idea of a baby, and reaching over to Bert, grabbed his wrist. With a light tug she drew him closer, suddenly smiling brightly through the her tears and the sedative.

"Bert, Bert – quick go ask the doctor... ask him, what are the chances of it looking like him? I want my baby to look like his father... or her father," she mumbled rolling back, "he would have been a good father, I think."


End file.
